Jenga Fic
by Echoing Bronze
Summary: Snape, Hermione, Dumbledore and Gandalf are playing Jenga. Who will topple the tower? Silly little piece, hope you like it.


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Inspired by the Muggle game "Jenga," "Harry Potter," and "Lord of the Rings."  
By a Snape/Hermione 'shipper (in case anyone thinks parts are weird/OC)

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Snape, Hermione and Dumbledore are creations of the wonderful J.K Rowling, and Gandalf belongs to Professor Tolkien. I also, surprisingly enough, did not invent the game of Jenga. :)

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"Ah, Severus, it appears that you have the good fortune of removing the next piece!"

The surly Potions Master offered a quick glance at the Headmaster and glared, his smoky eyes darkening in intensity at the challenge. The Professor turned his gaze to the wobbling, wooden tower in front of him, and he silently stroked his chin in concentration, quickly surveying the status of the various blocks and assessing which removals would upset the foundations of the already precarious structure. His agile mind meant that his deliberations were swift, and he reached out a slender finger tip to gently ease out a stiff, red block from the lower half of the tower. The movement was quick, and failed to disturb any of the surrounding blocks, but this move was very Slytherin in nature; the particular red piece that he had chosen for extraction was one of the key pieces which was holding the tower together. The stability of the thing was now on a knife edge, and Snape's lips curled into a triumphant smirk.

"It appears, Miss Granger, that even your over-enthusiastic bobbing was unable to affect my judgement, since at best, it has the ability to unsettle even the sturdiest of minds."

Hermione opened her mouth slightly in indignation but quickly closed it, not wanting to give Snape the satisfaction of a reaction. Ignoring his comment, she turned her attention to the tall mass of wood before her, and gingerly prodded at a couple of green and red ends. The tower wobbled in warning, and she could see Snape's satisfied sneer from the corner of her right eye. Much to her chagrin, she also realised that she was now sitting absolutely still. Her concentration was briefly interrupted, not only by this irritating revelation, but also by a loud rustling noise coming from opposite her. Dumbledore ripped open another lemon sherbet and sucked noisily, humming in approval. He nodded and said, "Well done, Severus, truly excellent move." Snape did not reply. "Care for a strawberry lace?" Dumbledore offered genially. The lank-haired Professor simply arched a disapproving eyebrow, and Dumbledore hastily withdrew the paper bag. "Ah well, suit yourself. Perhaps a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans while Miss Granger considers her next move?"

The last sentence was spoken mostly to himself than to anyone else, and Hermione did not seem to notice the personal 'reference.' She was now chewing absently on a strand of frizzy hair, and gracefully craned her neck to consider the tower from all angles. Snape was quietly observing her. His frosty verbal 'slaps' were his definite trademark, but he and Hermione shared a somewhat special relationship, and he knew that she was aware of the fact that any acidic remarks from his direction had the sole purpose to tease, and nothing more. It seemed that he continued to make cold, sarcastic observations more out of habit than anything else, and with Severus Snape, old habits died hard.

As he inwardly marvelled at her beauty and indulged in the wonder of watching her brilliant, bright mind at work, Dumbledore appeared to have had some luck at finding someone to share his mountain of confectionery with. 

"Pipe-weed!" came a deep, rich, delighted voice. It originated from the mouth of a kindly old wizard sat to Hermione's left, an old friend of Albus Dumbledore. Gandalf the White nibbled on the sweet with joy, and a spark was ignited in the depths of his blue-grey eyes. The twinkle danced merrily there, before it jumped away and found comfortable refuge in the bright blue irises of the owner of the Every Flavour Beans.

"I had no idea that those Beans stretched even to the depraved depths of recreational drugs," Snape uttered wryly under his breath.

"You're incredibly lucky, my friend," Dumbledore said to Gandalf with smiling eyes, oblivious to the dry remark, "I've been unfortunate enough to acquire another of those confounded vomit flavoured ones."

Gandalf laughed heartily, grabbing his crooked hat with one hand to stop it from falling off his head. "Let's see if I can sustain my winning streak," he said humorously, digging his hand gleefully back into the bottom of the bag.

"There!" Hermione suddenly stated, glowing with personal triumph and a quiet self-confidence. "I believe it's your turn now, Gandalf." She grinned at him and he waggled his bushy eyebrows at her in return.

"Gryffindor to the core," Snape hissed venomously with a shake of his head.

"What?" Hermione asked firmly, of the comment, which, had it been uttered by anyone else, may have been considered a compliment. 

Both Dumbledore and Gandalf shared a flash of insight and Gandalf said, "Thank you, my good woman, it seems that you have effectively counteracted Professor Snape's spirited attempts to sabotage the tower, and given an old man the chance to save himself!" The corners of his eyes crinkled as he broke into a wide smile, causing Hermione to blush, while Dumbledore's face remained impassive. Snape pursed his lips and maintained silence. "For a moment there," Gandalf continued gravely, "I thought I would be facing another Khazad Dum moment." He shook his bowed head but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed the seriousness of his tone. Hermione giggled.

"Well, well...this is a trifle difficult," Gandalf mumbled. He stroked his beard thoughtfully and Hermione risked a quick grin up at Snape, whose black eyes glittered dangerously. She continued to smile slightly to herself, after all, she thought, it was ever so amusing to see Severus disgruntled. 

Gandalf was still muttering things to himself; Hermione was able to catch something about if he could escape Orthanc Tower, he could tackle this one, and Dumbledore appeared to be watching the status of the tower with a friendly interest.

"Yes, it's that green one," Gandalf said, his mind finally made up. "I don't like the look of that red one," he added conspiratorially, aiming a grin at Hermione. With one swift gesture, one green rectangle had been neatly placed on the top of the tower, which was missing many big chunks in its sides and seemed to threaten to topple over at any moment in return for its gruesome dismemberment.

All eyes eagerly turned to Dumbledore, who was now mumbling to himself too. Perhaps it was an elderly wizard thing, Hermione reflected. Snape, who was the most inanimate of the four, leant forward very slightly. He may not have been making much noise or signs of movement, but he was probably paying the most attention; his Slytherin streak had awoken his fiercely competitive side. He coughed, and his hand smothered a smile as the vibrations of the air particles caused the tower to sway treacherously from side to side, and Hermione watched in horror. She brought a hand to her mouth and didn't dare to breathe. Dumbledore, however, seemed unperturbed. "This _is_ fun, isn't it," he commented jovially. Only Gandalf showed a note of agreement, raising his eyebrows as he chewed on the end of his pipe. 

"Let's try one from the top," Dumbledore murmured, eliciting a small squeak from Hermione; when the tower was nearly double its original height, as it impressively was now, you didn't normally want to try and tackle the most dangerous part of it. Dumbledore scooted round to the other side of the tower and his brow furrowed as he deliberated. "This white one up here looks as if it desires a change of accommodation. Come here little one, I know you're unhappy but I can show you much better places." The show of eccentricity was typically Dumbledore, and he stretched forth his calm, steady hand. Stillness pervaded the room, as he carefully applied pressure to the edge of the block. It emerged out the other side with ease, and Dumbledore replaced it at the top, beaming. "There, you should be less stifled up here." Hermione couldn't help but clap her hands together in relief. 

"Skilfully executed, Headmaster!" she said enthusiastically, and he grinned cheekily with the air of a young boy.

"Thank you, my dear. Yes, it was rather good if I may say so myself." He nudged Gandalf in jest and then turned to Snape. "Severus, it appears the mantle has passed to you, yet again."

"Yes, Headmaster," he said tersely. He began to eye up 'that red one' which Gandalf had not liked the look of. Hermione was transfixed, eager to see how Snape's attempt would turn out, and she began to jig up and down restlessly. 

"Miss Granger!" he bellowed. "Could you please contain your excitement?!"

"Oh, sorry," she said meekly, fighting the twitching at the corner of her mouth. Gandalf laughed softly to himself and Dumbledore went back to rummaging through his sweet supplies. Not wanting to show weakness by stalling, Snape decided to aim for the red block which lay sturdily in its place at the centre of the tower. Several pairs of eyes sparkled with focused interest as he extended a dextrous hand, and the loud rustling of yet another wrapper failed to distract him as Gandalf opened another Every Flavour Bean. Snape steadied his breathing as he placed his index finger on the end of the piece and pushed it gently. The tower vibrated and he waited for it to cease before trying again. Coming round the other side, he gripped the protruding end firmly with his thumb and index finger and began to pull. It inched out a little, and the tower vibrated again, this time more violently. Hermione gasped softly. Snape began to repeat the ten uses of dragon blood in his head to focus his attention, and then went back to carrying out his move.

"Ooo, Lembas!" Gandalf exclaimed. Evidently his winning streak had indeed been sustained, from the look of happiness on his face at having acquired a bean that tasted of Elven way-bread. The timing of his comment however took its toll, and in that moment, Professor Snape lost his concentration. All the top pieces leaned over to one side and as he gasped a disbelieving, "Nooo!" the whole thing collapsed.

"HAH!!" Hermione shouted. She was on her knees now and pointed at the wooden debri. "Ha!" she repeated, glowing with an uncharacteristic show of joy at another person's misfortune, and clutched her sides as she broke out into laughter.

Snape clamped his mouth tightly shut and glowered, his face turning even whiter than usual.

"Terribly sorry, truly," Gandalf said remorsefully, "but well, it is only a game after all."

"Yes!!" Hermione agreed somewhat enthusiastically. "Exactly, only a game!" She lapsed into another fit of silent laughter and Snape's eyes shone angrily with cold fire.

Dumbledore also offered his regrets and extended a sympathetic hand, and with an empathising grimace, said, "Strawberry lace?" 

THE END


End file.
